The Legend of Zelda games in order of quality
The Zelda games in order of my favorite to least favorite with brief explanations.
List items
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The best Zelda. The time travel system is one of the huge reasons why I love this game, as it allows the town to feel more alive than any other place in a Zelda game has, and the transformations are all really fun to play as and add some great variety to the gameplay. I also think it tells the best story of a Zelda game, despite the overarching plot being pretty sparse. The individual stories of each NPC range from fun to heartwrenching, and solving some of their problems gave me a bigger sense of fulfillment than conquering any dungeon or temple in a Zelda game has ever given me.
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There's really nothing I can say about Ocarina of Time that hasn't been said before. Although it's pretty formulaic now as far as Zelda goes, it's not its fault so many games after it were patterned after it, and Ocarina of Time still stands up as a fantastic game. There's a remake for the 3DS titled Ocarina of Time 3D, but I'm a purist so I prefer the original N64 version, warts and all.
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Zelda II gets a bad rap because people are bad at video games. If you can get past the difficulty Zelda II is a really solid action-platformer. Fuck the last temple though, that shit's bullshit.
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When it comes to 2D Zelda games most people either side with A Link to the Past or Link's Awakening. Although I actually sided with Zelda II, A Link to the Past came in a close second for me. Like Ocarina, A Link to the Past is pretty formulaic, but it was the game that INVENTED that formula, and is still a great game.
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The Wind Waker's gigantic ocean is probably the closest the series has gotten to the original Zelda's sense of exploration, and the game's cel-shaded artstyle just looks beautiful. One of the best looking games from its generation, and still looks better than most games today. The HD release for Wii U supposedly fixes several problems with the game, but I haven't played that version and personally think the addition of bloom ruins the game's "playable cartoon" look.
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A Link Between Worlds puts a fantastic spin on the Zelda formula with its item rental system and non-linear dungeon progression, and drops the overbearing hand-holding recent Zeldas are guilty of.
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Skyward Sword was the first game I played where the motion controls actually added to the game. Skyward Sword ditches the usual giant overworld for three smaller areas that act like mini-dungeons, a nice change for this game. The combat is fun, the dungeons are great, and the boss fights are fantastic.
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Most people like Oracle of Ages better, but I only had Oracle of Seasons as a kid, which is probably why I prefer it.
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Still a solid game, even if it's no The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons.
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The exploration/open world of this game is really cool and gives you a real feeling of adventure in a way no other game has. Literally everything else about the game from the dungeons to the combat to the boss fights isn't. Nintendo could easily take this formula and perfect it in the next Zelda, but as it is I don't care for it much.
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This is where I start to have less to say about each game. The Minish Cap is a really solid Zelda game, and the shrinking gimmick is fun. Not much else to say.
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A fun game. I really can't think of much else to say. Drawing that one map by hand was cool I guess. The touch the two crests puzzle was cool too. I actually couldn't figure it out, closed my DS, looked it up, and then laughed when I read the solution. Yep.
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If I'd played the original Legend of Zelda in it's optimal setting, I'd probably have loved it. Unfortunately, I played it in an age where games tell you exactly where to go, and hated wandering around aimlessly. I got through the game using a jpeg of the entire world map with each dungeon's location labeled, and I really regret that.
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Twilight Princess was once at the bottom of my list, but having recently revisited the game with the HD version I've decided to bump it up several spots. Though not a very noteworthy entry in the series, Twilight Princess still has decent dungeons and some good side content to seek out. I still hate every second spent playing as Wolf Link, and the secret skills still make combat too easy, but it's not a bad game by any means.
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I'm actually not that big a fan of Link's Awakening DX. It's good, but I find parts of it dull, confusing and tedious.
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Four Swords Adventures is probably fantastic if you're playing with three friends, but I only ever played it two player. It's fun, but the puzzle designs are pretty uninspired for the most part. Don't bother playing it single player.
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This isn't really a Zelda game, but it's fun! Probably not worth the $20 I basically paid for it though. (I never used the Zapper for anything else)
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(Specifically the Four Swords part) I quit playing the DSiWare version of this during the tutorial. Maybe one day I'll try it again, but I can't imagine solving co-op puzzles on your own is much fun.
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I actually imported a copy of this from Europe. I love the bizarre style of the characters and the world, but the gameplay and rupees = life gimmick are really annoying. Characters will charge you rupees for their services, and you have to guess how many they want. If you guess wrong they get offended and you have to guess again, but they take the rupees you offered anyways. Might retry this one again someday with a FAQ, but playing through a game with a FAQ open that I'm constantly referring to isn't my idea of fun.
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I never played past the tutorial. I got to the part where you have to turn based on the tree-branches, but didn't want to go through that part a second time when the last branch points you the wrong way. I've heard bad things about the game since, but I'll probably get back to it some day.
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I didn't even play this game because it looked dumb.
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